If you’re concerned about protection against malware on your Apple Mac computer, here’re some notes from MacWorld’s latest reviews.
Summary
Best overall antivirus software – Sophos Home Premium for Mac
Best free antivirus software – Avast Free Mac Security
In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).
Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:
A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
Ransomware monitoring
Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
A high score on Windows malware detection
Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.
Listing
If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.